Greek unemployment rises to 15.5 pct in April

Greece’s jobless rate rose to 15.5 percent in April from an upwardly revised 14.5 percent reading in the previous month, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

It was still the lowest jobless rate since March 2011.

Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of unemployed at 708,655 people, with those aged up to 24 bearing the brunt of being out of work.

Among younger persons aged 15 to 24, the jobless rate rose to 33.6% from 32.7 percent in the same month in 2019. Greece’s jobless rate, which hit a record high of 27.8 percent in September 2013, remains the highest in the euro zone.

Greece’s 2020 budget projects growth picking up this year, helping to drive joblessness down to 15.6 percent. But the government-imposed lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19 disease and travel restrictions around the world has thrown forecasts off. 

[Reuters]